


Pride and Paperwork

by fortytworedvines



Series: Trefoils are forever [2]
Category: Holby City
Genre: Bernie really dislikes paperwork, F/F, Fluff, domestic!Berena, they're guide leaders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-26 20:22:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,617
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15670605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fortytworedvines/pseuds/fortytworedvines
Summary: At the end of their planning meeting Jac drops a bombshell on Bernie. Luckily, Serena is there to help.





	Pride and Paperwork

‘That’s it, term planned,’ Jac says as she snaps her notebook shut. Bernie stretches with an inner sigh of relief. Serena’s expecting her and she’s already half an hour later than she’d said she’d be. She picks up her bag and stands up from the deep sofa slowly. She’s almost at the door when Jac speaks casually.

‘Oh, almost forgot. I’m away for Holby Pride this year, so can you organise it and take whoever wants to go?’ She doesn’t wait for a response, shows Bernie out of the door. ‘Thanks’. She closes it on Bernie’s best goldfish impression.

Bernie clambers into her car, fumbles for her phone and puts it on loudspeaker before she starts the engine.

‘Bernie?’ Serena sounds disappointed, ‘Are you not coming over?’

‘Coming now,’ Bernie says, trying to focus on the road as her head swims in panic.

‘What’s wrong?’

‘Pride.’

A pause. ‘Bernie, is now the time to play twenty questions? You concentrate on getting here. See you in a bit.’

Serena rings off and Bernie does as she says, concentrates on the journey and tries to ignore the queasy feeling in her stomach.

‘I opened a bottle,’ Serena says, opening the door just as Bernie was about to knock.

‘Thanks.’ Bernie smiles; she can’t help but smile when she sees Serena; grey hair and red lips and the sparkle in her eyes that’s just for Bernie.

Bernie curls up on the sofa and lays her head gratefully in Serena’s lap. Serena loves caressing her hair and Bernie would happily let her for hours.

‘I made lasagne for dinner. Good thing too; it stays in the oven nicely and you’re late.’

‘Blame Jac,’ Bernie mumbles. ‘That’s nice,’ as Serena finds a particularly tingling spot.

‘So what got you all in a fuss?’

Bernie gulps. ‘Holby Pride.’

Serena’s fingers still a moment, then continue. ‘You don’t want to go?’

There’s no censure in her voice, but Bernie stumbles over her words to explain. ‘No, no, not that at all. She wants me to take the guides.’

‘And?’

‘And do the organisation.’

‘Ah.’ Serena stretches her free hand to the wine bottle on the table, carefully pours a glass and passes it to Bernie. ‘There you go.’

‘There’ll be consent forms, I’ll have to do a risk assessment. Organise transport. I’ll have to email the parents. I’ll have to supervise them all on my own for an entire day!”

‘Breathe. Then drink.’

Bernie inhales deeply, exhales slowly, then takes a sip of Shiraz.

‘That’s better. There’s always a group from County going, I bet somebody’s already got a risk assessment. There’s nothing to consent forms. And what’s the point of hooking up with another Guide leader if she won’t help you?’

‘You will?’ Bernie twists round to see Serena looking down at her, a fondly amused expression on her face.

‘Of course. I usually take a few of mine anyway and I’m definitely not missing it now I have a gorgeous girlfriend of my own. Do you feel better now?’

Bernie sighs and nods.

‘Not to mention you’ll be able to tick off lots of things from your Leadership Qualification.’

Bernie groans deeply. ‘I’ll have it finished in a term, the way Jac’s getting on at me.’

 

Their usual Saturday date is postponed. Bernie’s brought her laptop round to Serena’s and is fighting with the guiding online system.

‘How do I find all their email addresses?’ she says, frustrated almost to tears.

Serena leans over her shoulder. ‘Click here, then here… now there.’ Finally the list of girls appears and Bernie heaves a sigh of relief, copies all the emails into the email that she’s composing.

Serena glances over again – she’s supposed to be cooking, but she can do two things at once.

‘You need to BCC them,’ she points. ‘You can’t have all the addresses visible since the data protection law came in.’

‘How do you _know_ this stuff?’ Bernie asks with a huff as she copies and pastes them into the other box.

‘I don’t view my Guiding magazine as purely decorative, for a start.’

Bernie bangs out an email without needing too much input and is about to send it when Serena says ‘Consent form?’

‘Argh!’

‘Download it off Go and fill in your own details,’ Serena advises, ‘It seems to go wrong half the time when you try and do it online.’

Some more furious typing and then Bernie sits back with a sigh. ‘Do you think I’ve covered it all?’

Serena props her head on Bernie’s and reads. Presses a kiss to the messy curls. ‘Yes, I think you’re okay. Well done.’

‘Do I get a reward?’ Bernie clicks send and turns around hopefully.

Serena gives her a quick peck on the lips, and laughs at Bernie’s crestfallen face. ‘Dinner’s nearly ready. We can discuss rewards afterwards, and you should bear in mind that I deserve some thanks for helping you with it all.’ She winks and Bernie grins and stands up to perch on the edge of the kitchen table. She slips her arms round Serena’s waist and pulls her to stand between her legs.

‘You’ll get thanks,’ she murmurs, voice low, feels a gratifying tremor run through her girlfriend. ‘How would you like to be thanked?’ she lets her hands move to the buttons of Serena’s blouse and Serena flushes.

‘Dinner,’ she squeaks. ‘Don’t distract me, or it’ll burn.’

Bernie thinks it over for a moment and then sighs. ‘Fine. To be continued then.’

 

The week before Pride, Serena pops into Jac’s unit meeting.

The girls are working on something in two groups with Jac and Bernie supervising. Serena pauses by the door, unnoticed, to watch Bernie. She’s listening to something that one of the girls is saying, then responds animatedly. Serena smiles. Bernie has a magnetic quality to her, draws Serena’s eyes unfailing, has done ever since they first met in that queue at camp. Serena doesn’t often get the opportunity to see her with the Guides these days and she’s struck by how comfortable she looks. Loathing of paperwork aside, Bernie is going to make a fantastic leader.

At this point Jac looks up, spots Serena lurking. ‘Campbell,’ she says, ‘What can I do for you?’

Bernie looks up then, a beaming smile crossing her face. She murmurs something to her group, then crosses the hall to greet Serena. Serena reaches for her automatically, stroking a gentle thumb down her cheek. ‘Hi,’ she says quietly.

‘Campbell?’ Jac says impatiently.

Bernie’s arm finds its way round Serena’s waist. ‘Everything okay?’ she asks.

‘I’ve just got a copy of the County risk assessment for the weekend,’ Serena says to both of them. ‘Here you go,’ she pulls a couple of sheets of paper from her bag and hands them to Bernie.

‘And naturally you couldn’t have emailed it,’ Jac says drily.

‘Naturally,’ Serena replies, equally drily. She’s not about to point out that Bernie has a bad habit of only checking her emails every ten days, but Bernie makes a tiny amused sound, presses a kiss to the side of Serena’s head.

There’s an audible sigh from one of the girls, and Serena glances over to see a few looking at them with the sort of expression normally reserved for baby animals. ‘I’m afraid I’m hurting your reputation as a fearsome leader,’ she murmurs to Bernie.

‘Did I have one? Jac’s a fearsome enough leader for this unit.’

‘I head that,’ Jac has snuck up on them. ‘Look, Campbell, it’s not that I don’t appreciate you doing Bernie’s work for her, but you’re distracting everybody. Go. Now.’

‘Fine, fine. I’m off.’ She turns to Bernie, ‘Make sure you read that through. See you tomorrow?’

‘I’ll be there,’ Bernie smiles softly, then kisses her, chaste and quick, but it still makes Serena flush.

 

‘Face paint, Bernie?’ Evie asks eagerly. She’s holding a paint brush and Liv is waving a palette and stencils wildly.

‘Well, why not,’ Bernie says and Serena laughs as the two girls pounce on her. Bernie sits still on the bench and lets the girls loose on her. The brush tickles on her cheek and makes her giggle.

‘Sit still, Bernie,’ Evie grumbles, ‘It won’t look good if you wriggle.’

Bernie closes her eyes so that Serena can’t make her laugh, focusses instead on the hubbub in the street as everybody gathers. Serena had been right – naturally, she always was – and organising this for the Guides hadn’t been the excruciating task she had expected. Only five girls had come, which meant that she didn’t have to have eyes in the back of her head, and they’d all produced completed consent forms on arrival. They’d joined up with the other Guides and Rangers from County, complete with banners. She and Serena had exchanged nods with a number of other leaders who were dating, and, in the case of two Rainbow leaders, married.

‘There, all done.’ Liv’s voice breaks through her reverie and she opens her eyes.

‘What do you think, Serena?’ Evie asks.

Bernie seeks Serena’s eyes; she smiles, bends down and kisses Bernie, to the delight of the girls. ‘Lovely.’

‘You’ve got a heart on one cheek and a trefoil on the other,’ Liv says.

Bernie suppresses a sudden itch; it won’t do to spoil their work. ‘Thanks girls.’

There’s movement ahead – the parade is setting off. The girls cluster excitedly, and Serena reaches for Bernie.

‘Come here, you.’ She pulls Bernie up gently, slips her arms round her waist and looks up at her with shining eyes. ‘Ready?’

Serena feels so perfect in Bernie’s arms, and Bernie thinks for the thousandth time how lucky she is to have met this woman. ‘Let’s go.’

**Author's Note:**

> Day 1 of Berena Appreciation week. Prompt: Pride


End file.
